~ilj

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Ivan Lezhnjov Jr.

Role in SMGL: General Grimoire Developer (do not pay attention to capital letters my contribution is really modest :-) )

Age/Birthdate: 23

Location/Country: Europe, Ukraine, Simferopol city

Common

When did you first start using Linux and why?

I first tried out linux back in 1998 or 1999 can't recall exactly. It was Caldera Linux that came on a CD as a supplement to a book called "Learn Linux Yourself in 24 Hours!". It sported KDE 1 and linux version 2.2.x if my memory serves me well.

The reason I decided to try out Linux was like this: I'm usually a curious person and very attentive listener. I heard many people saying that "Linux rocks", that it's hard to learn how to operate the system in comparison to well-known and widespread OS from Mr. Bill Gates and his company but it "rocks big time".

That was enough to get me interested if Linux really "rocked". So, we (me and my dad) bought that book and gave it a try. Impressions were mixed. Caldera Linux was something really different from MS Windows 98 but due to the lack of computer literacy and I mean deep understanding of features of Linux/UNIX systems have and their design it was simply impossible for me to build up any opinion at that time.

So, I proceeded with my quest on figuring out what rocks and what not. I didn't really use Linux for a whole day long I believe until the times of RedHat version 7.2. It was basically hard to handle this cool OS for a kid like I was. But I grew up and got interested in computers and surrounding culture even more. So, I decided to follow my quest and started studying the stuff. I read some books, played with RedHat7.2, 7.3, 8.0 Mandrake 8.0, and finally switched to Slackware having it alongside with Windows XP in a dual boot scenario.

That were the times when I made a firm decision to "learn Linux" whatever it could take. Over short time I realized that it wasn't possible to achieve my goal while constantly switching between two OS so one day I was brave enough to format my hard drive and have Slackware as my primary OS. Nothing else, just Slackware.

It took me years to learn some of the stuff but I'm now glad I invested that much time for I gained knowledge about computers, Internet, operating systems, IRC etc.etc.

I played with compiling programs on Slackware and building my own packages, reading FHS and generally speaking exploring the universe of silicon machines, open source and such :-)

At one point I eagerly desired to try out Gentoo distribution but that never happened although I had a distro handbook on my table printed out and was getting ready to get Gentoo installed on my computer.

I got to know Source Mage GNU/Linux and I don't think there's any better distribution for me at the moment. I was amazed with knowledgeable community members, with what sorcery can do and overall project policy. This is definitely the distro I enjoy very much.

Sorcery. Also the fact that it's a source based distribution. Before engaging in I read an overview of what SMGL has to offer and how that stacks up with other modern distros and I realized that SMGL looked like the real deal for me.

What future do you personally see for SMGL?

Can't really speak about this since I'm still learning what the project is and what it was. I'm basically not yet in position to make any forecasts.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Education/Career/Skills?

I possess professional training as philologist and teacher of foreign languages and literature. English language was my primary language of study (you noticed how many mistakes both grammatical and stylistic I make, did you? Even though I studied English professionally for 5 years and as a hobby for 5+ years more I still do horrible mistakes and feel stupid and ashamed ^^) I also studied German language but I can't really communicate it. It's long story guys and I don't think you're interested in it :-) I also speak fluently Russian and Ukrainian first being my mother tongue and second is a state language in Ukraine, obviously.

I'm currently job-less and pondering upon the greatest wisdoms of life.

Skills. Hmmm… I can handle my own reality and I believe this is a great skill that requires even greater efforts :-)

Any personal messages for the Source Mage users out there?

Not yet.

What other OS programs/software have you worked on?

USSR computer called "Электроника БК-01" but I don't know what software it ran :-)) This computer should be lying abandoned somewhere in my closet.